Have I Finally Found the Secret to Beating My Hormonal Acne?

I’ve been obsessing over my skin and skincare for at least 30 years, starting from my very first “blemish” when I hit puberty. (Ha — I scoff to think that that itty bitty bump ever qualified as a pimple in my mind). So when it comes to skincare, I’m a realist — I know there are no miracle products, that skincare takes time to work.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I haven’t stumbled onto some products that work amazingly well. I just know that when it comes to skincare, slow and steady wins the race. Sure, I can pretty much tell immediately when a moisturizer isn’t doing its job or a cleanser leaves me feeling tight and dry. And if you get a breakout from something? Ditch it immediately. (Oddly enough, the only product I ever get breakouts from are hair products in spray format. Go figure.) But when it comes to serums, essences, and acids — products that need time to affect your longterm skin condition — I don’t give up on something just because it didn’t work overnight. I give them a lot of leeway to effect change.

That being said, I’ve tried all sorts of things to tackle my hormonal acne: salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, tea tree extract, changing my diet, and yes, even Advil. I even considered the bright side of getting older is finally growing out of my hormonal acne. (Ha again — now doctors say adult acne can last through your 50s.) And while some products have helped quell or calm acne, none have ever stopped it completely. Every month, I can expect an unwelcome visitor right around my chin or mouth area. It starts with a small bump, a clogged pore. And I know that in a week or two, that bump will turn red and painful — full-blown cystic acne that will only dissipate once I’ve popped it and slapped my must-have CosRx hydrocolloid patch on it overnight.

It all started with a story I was doing for Composure Magazine on oral supplements and whether they really made a difference in our skin. I interviewed a few doctors on the topic, and one, Dr. Carl Thornfeldt, offered some fascinating information about how spearmint tea can help fight adult acne. But he also recommended a seemingly random mix of supplements to fight adult acne: 500 mg of niacinamide twice a day, zinc picolinate three times a day, 2,000 IUs of vitamin D, and vitamin B6 every day of menstruation. “Vitamin B6 binds to the receptors that are activated by hormones that drive the menstrual cycle,” he explained. “If one continues the vitamin B6 after 60 days, the human tissues add more receptors, and the existing receptors become saturated, thus Vitamin B6’s efficacy wanes.”

It was enough for me to search for zinc picolinate supplements on Amazon and add it to my cart. But I had a 30-day supply of Zea Skin Solutions Clear Skin 30 Dietary Supplement Packets, which doesn’t contain zinc picolinate but 15 mg of zinc oxide and only 1,000 IU of vitamin D3. But it contains zeaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant, as well as several pre- and probiotics (including lactobacillus), fish oil, borage and pomegranate seed oil, as well as a variety of extracts like turmeric, broccoli, and green tea. So I decided to give it a go. What did I have to lose, after all?

The first month, I still had my hormonal breakout, but it was smaller, less painful, and died quicker. Interesting, I thought.

The second month, the difference was much more noticeable. The one hormonal pimple I had was much, much smaller and not really painful, as if it were not that deep. In fact, I’d call it more a blemish than a cystic pimple. The whitehead that developed popped on its own as I was cleansing one night, and all I had to do was slap a hydrocolloid patch on it overnight, and it was gone.

I’m coming up on my third month of taking Zea Clear Skin supplements, and I’m hopeful that this will be the turning point in my battle against adult acne. Other than the residual PIH and my usual hyperpigmentation on my cheeks, my skin’s looking better than ever. And I can tell you this much — if in month three, my hormonal acne is as mild as it’s been these last two months, I’ll gladly be coughing up the $129 every month it costs for these supplements. Because honestly, at my age, I’m done battling acne and wrinkles — and I’m willing to pay for it.